The Fortune Tellers Son
by eridium
Summary: AU. Ereri. Constantly dismissed as young and naive, Eren works as a servant for Prince Levi, who is doomed to marry an unfaithful king. Little does Levi know, his soon to be fiancé is cheating on him with another servant of the house. In trying to inform his Prince, Eren has to face the consequences of going against his kingdom. Rated M for language, violence and sexual content.


**Authors Note:**

Since I've been back from NC it's been a little fuzzy with what I'm working with on my other fics. Not to mention, the trip was so last minute and unprepared I just sort of dropped everything in a minute's notice. So to start the year off, I'm starting off on a new fic that will be relatively short until I can catch my bearings.

It will be as long as a deck of tarot cards. 21 chapters. Maybe.

No, this will not be Eruri at all despite a few subtle one-liners about their "relationship". It will be Ereri. uwu

**Musical Theme: **

In The Midst [Assassins Creed 4 OST]

* * *

><p><em><strong>The Fortune Tellers Son<strong>__; The Emperor_

Rosy cheeks swelled, full of overcooked yet nicely seasoned pork, with a laugh revealing his full mouth until he covered his mouth with a calloused hand. Emerald eyes narrowed from his trembling laughter as his blond friend poked the sleeping boy across their table again.

"Shh, Eren." The blond held a finger to his mouth. "You'll wake Jean up."

"Armin, I think you care little about that," he mumbled through his food. He rolled his eyes when Armin smiled a mischievous smile before returning to his plate.

Jean, one of the many servants in the Ackerman household, had fallen fast asleep on his empty tray. Even Eren, despite his quarrels with the boy, knew not to disturb a man's sleep. King Ackerman and his son had always worked them tooth and nail and getting more than 6 hours of sleep in the household was an unheard prayer. So at lunch, most would scarf their food to a choking point until they fell asleep at the mile long table.

It wasn't the work that upset him though. He'd suffer any chore thrown at his way.

When he'd been a child, he rescued a girl—who unknowingly turned out to be none other than a princess. Mikasa was her name, but she had simply been a little, fragile girl in his eyes when three men tried kidnapping her. It was the first day he'd shed blood, and for that, the Ackermans' were forever grateful for him, though all they could offer in the home was a servants job.

He hadn't minded a bit, considering especially his mother was able to come along with him. She'd been given maid duty, mostly washing and hanging clothes to dry, while he did the gritty work; collecting wood for the fire, washing the kitchen after women had cooked their meals, cleaning weapons—those sorts of chores.

He'd never tell that Mikasa had sometimes done his job for him; but it was her choice, because she never wanted to be a higher rank just to look down on her citizens. She treated them equally, unlike her brother, Levi. Prince Levi, to be correct.

He wasn't cruel or unusual; nothing like that, but he was very demanding when he needed to be. If he wanted something clean, he'd force his servants to scrub it spotless repeatedly, sometimes 6 times before he sought it clean enough for his preference. Everything had to be right.

As if on cue when duties crossed his mind, the dinner bell rang to dismiss them from eating. Jean's closest friend, Marco, quickly woke the blond while Eren and Armin scrambled to collect their trays and utensils. They discarded them properly to the front of the room and walked in a line back to the front yards.

_"Erwin!"_

His eyes flicker to the whispered shout a few feet from him. He sees one of Prince Levi's personal servants, Hanji, with a man; a blond man with his back to him, touching her inner thigh and lifting her dress. His immediate reaction is to become furious—Hanji is a friend, a good friend at that… well, someone who took care of him and his family.

"Erwin… this isn't right… now that you and Levi…," her voice quietly trails off. Everyone and their mother can hear her considering the room had gotten quiet. In fact, everyone had stilled to stare at their display, and once the man notices with a glance over his shoulder, he runs a hand through his hair and takes two steps back.

He never minds it, content when the man storms away from her. He follows the crowded line until he's outside.

Eren smiled at the sun rays greeting him as he stepped outside. He inhaled the air, although it wasn't as clean as the air outside of the walls, it was much better than the stale air inside. Besides, going outside of the walls was forbidden unless resources were needed from. Only once was he allowed outside, when he was 14, 4 years ago, to help create a water dam.

He hadn't been much help besides lifting a few stones and rocks, but he still had a scar from his thumb needing to be reattached to prove it.

"Eren, what're your duties today?" Armin asks as they stop at the gate.

"I have to deliver laundry today…," he pouts when he thinks of the flight of stairs he'll have to climb. "Princess Mikasa needs her gown for the event tomorrow, and Prince Levi needs fresh socks. I think that's all."

"Lucky. I have to clean the fireplaces." He grumbles. "Inside and out."

"At least you'll get some time alone in the library." He reminds him. The look on Armin's face looks nothing short of pure excitement once he remembers there's a fireplace in the castle's library.

"Oh, right!" He gasps. He holds both of Eren's shoulders momentarily and flashes a smile. "I should go then if I want some spare time!"

"Mm," he nods. "I'll see you later."

He pats Armin on the shoulder once, letting his friend run off into the crowd of people trying to return to their stations. He sighs and bee lines his way across the enormous castle standing what he can only imagine is a _thousand_ feet tall (it's only 50 feet).

Hurriedly, he makes it to the wash room and immediately spots the long chocolate tresses resting on a woman's back. It's his mother, he already knows, and surprises her with a soft touch to the top of her head while she's scrubbing something in a bucket. Her head turns and when her eyes focus she smiles before pulling him into a side hug, not letting her wet hands touch him.

"Eren, what are you doing here?" Her voice is sweet even though her eyes immediately go back to her work.

"I have to pick up clothes today," he states. "Prince Levi's socks and Mikasa's gown. Do you know if they're done?"

"Oh…," she dries her hands quickly on her apron before pointing to the other side of the room. "Near Mina. Queen Isle's gown is there as well."

"Okay," He nods with a smile and kisses his mother's cheek. "Thanks. I need to be off."

"Stay out of trouble!" He's already hurried off when she calls.

He waves over his shoulder, careful not to bump into the other servants packed into the small room. He smiles at some familiar faces for the sake of being polite. Rico, who doesn't return the gesture, is watching over the servants closely. She's one of the few female guards of the keep. Hitch, Marlo and Hannah are the only others he recognizes out of the strange faces. None of which pay much attention to him.

He goes into a smaller room where Mina is working with an iron, straightening out clothes and gowns carefully.

"Mina," he catches her attention. Her hair is pulled into pigtails, and there's a thin sheet of swat over her forehead that she wipes away once she sets her tools aside, away from the purple dress she's focused on. "I need the Ackerman's clothes."

"Right," she chirps. She scans the room, pointing her fingers all over the room before she exclaims, "Ah! Right there."

She points to the corner of the room where two silk dresses are hanging, one a soft pink with a red scarf around it, the other is a lilac color. Underneath them is a small baggy, which he reminds himself must be Levi's things. He collects the hangers on his wrist, holding them up high and grabs the cloth bag with his free hand.

"Thanks." He nods before leaving her to her work.

Using his feet, he nudges open the two doors blocking him from the court yard and stops immediately when he sees it's empty besides the two royals strolling out. Mikasa, and her mother, Isle, standing across the yard. Going unnoticed, he avoids them with respect and takes the back entrance.

He hurries through the castle, making extra sure he doesn't track any dirt into the stone building. His feet move faster than he realizes they could as he's stomping up the velvet staircases, and after three flights, he finally makes it to the bedrooms where he hangs their gowns on the small hook on the top center of their doors.

He carries the bag underneath his arm as he counts two doors down, Levi's room, which he suspects is empty, but there's nowhere for him to sit the bag, and tossing it at his door is rude.

Eren knocks twice on the bulk door to be safe before swinging it open. He holds the baggy of socks out before he opens his mouth and freezes on spot when two pairs of eyes are staring back at him, both lazy and uncaring. His eyes focus on the bare back with hands frozen at the center.

He recognizes the first man, Prince Levi, none other, with ebony hair falling lazy onto his forehead and drop-dead stone cold doll eyes like cooling steel. His complexion is pale, nearly glowing in the dim sunlight from the curtained window.

While straddled, his arms are wrapped around a man, a blond man with ocean blue eyes and slicked back hair. Someone he's never seen before, someone who took him fully off guard.

Even as a pathetic servant with no experience in love making, he knows exactly what he's walked in on; and even as a pathetic servant, he realizes minutes later that that's the same man who had been touching Hanji. A wave of confusion flows over him, yet he doesn't dare to interfere.

"What do you want?" His voice is bittersweet, like dried honey that's sat in the sun for too long and cracked.

Eren struggles to find his voice, clearing his throat deeply, yet it still cracks when he does speak.

"I—I, brought you… these." He juts the bag out further. His face flushes as seconds linger on. "S… socks. Y-Your Highness… I mean… _Royal_ Highness… your… um… socks."

"Leave them." His voice is stern. He's still glaring over his shoulder, watching as Eren bumps into a coat rack and sets the bag down on a nearby dresser with shaking hands. Just as Eren's about to return to the door, Levi sucks in a breath, "And remember, the dead cannot reveal any secrets."

He narrows his eyes at the door, not daring to turn around. Last he remembered, in Armin's book of the sea, that was a pirate's saying… and why a prince would know that baffled Eren, yet the message was very much received. He understood what Levi meant.

_Tell anyone and I will kill you. _

Or, have him killed, by another servant… maybe his own mother.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness, sir." He mumbles.

"Who is he?" Comes a different voice; a confident, sturdy voice.

Eren glances over his shoulder to see the blond man peering at him.

"No one, Erwin, a servant."

He holds what would be a dull tongue in comparison and reluctantly keeps his back turned. He rolls his eyes before swinging the door open, leaving the two in a silence. There was only one place he could imagine he'd want to be, but couldn't be.

Like every day, he waited patiently for the moon to reappear just as the sun was setting. It was always the perfect time, right before everyone was dismissed from work and guards were escorting people back to their rooms. It was against the rules to leave the castle's keep without a duty or permission from the king.

Yet, he'd broken the rules many times by sneaking out through a small hole covered by vines. It was hidden by forest in the back yards and was easy to sneak out of, especially considering he was so thin.

He hurried out with nothing prepared, as usual, and smiled contently once he was in the city again.

Although he'd never been able to enjoy it; most people were packing their stations and wagons and food courts were abandoned around this time. It was the time for thiefs and robbers to come out, but he'd always avoiding them at most cost.

On the outskirts, just near the edge of the outer wall, was a small tent with red lace.

He brushes his feet off at the entrance and peeks inside.

"Father," he calls into the tent. He brushes the lace curtains out of his way before coming into the small, dimmed room. It's after hours, which means only his father is here. He smiles when he sees the glimmer from his dad's glasses, a smile waiting for him. "I came to say goodnight."

"You shouldn't sneak out of the keep," he sighs, though his voice is light. He waves a hand dismissively. "Sit down, I've just got something and I want to show you."

It doesn't take much to peak Eren Jaeger's curiosity, especially when it comes to his father and the fortune telling business. Unlike his mother, he's very much interested in it, whether or not it's true or just rubbish like his mother says.

His eyes adjust quickly in the room and he takes the only available seat. A small, pink, silky seat in front of a small table cloaked in white. His father's crystal ball isn't sitting on the table anymore, Eren knows it's locked away so thief's don't come in the night. Instead, there's a small box on the center of the table. The words read, "tarot cards" in a cursive font.

He cocks his head, looking at them with wide eyes while his father readjusts his glasses.

His father opens the box, pulling out a deck of cards. He sets them in a neat pile on the table.

"I want you to take these, and shuffle them quickly."

They're rather large, so Eren shuffles them with two clumsy hands, simply just taking a chunk of cards off of the top and splitting them into the middle. When he does it three times, his father takes the deck from him and sets it back down.

"Usually, you'd pick three cards, but every night we'll pick just one, okay?"

"Sure…, but what are they?"

"You'll see," his father grins. "Now think of a question that's been nagging at you—a serious question. Think of it hard."

Eren closes his eyes with a sigh. He thinks through his day, out of all of the events that happened and Levi stands out the most. The man he was with; the confrontation he received, the threat Prince Levi gave him. He shuddered slightly at the man's voice echoing in the back of his mind.

"Got one?" His father asks. Eren opens his eyes when he nods and sees that there's 3 cards laid in front of him. "Now, choose one card with the question in your mind."

His finger hovers over each card, lightly touching the spiraling design on the outer side. He hums to himself, silently pondering his options. He taps the one on the farthest right, looking up to his father with a nod.

"This one."

His father flips the card with narrowed eyes.

"The emperor," he reads what's written in bold on the card.

"What's that mean?" Eren looks up.

"It means…," he pulls the box back, lifting a small slip of paper out. He reads off of it, "an older man may have some influence on your life. He will attract to order, logic and organization."

"Hmm…," Eren purses his lips. "That didn't really help me."

"What were you thinking of?"

"The prince," he admits with a sigh. He chews on his bottom lip as he glances back to his father. "I… I walked in on him doing something that I think he shouldn't be doing."

"Prince Levi doing something he shouldn't be? Unheard of." His father sarcastically gasps. Eren rolls his eyes with a smile, letting his father's hearty laugh humor him. When his laughter dies down, he adds, "Maybe you've created an opportunity for yourself."

"I… dunno." His lip is becoming raw from his constant pecking. He shrugs slightly, thinking back to the threat Levi had given him, and the way those eyes glared lightning bolts at him. "If anything, I've given him a good reason to kill me."

"Now, don't be so haste," his father lightly scolds as he stacks the remaining cards away. He tucks them all back into their box along with the note. "It couldn't have been that bad. Besides, didn't you hear? The prince is getting married. Maybe you'll be attending."

"Married?" He gasps. He's awestruck with the sheer fact that he lives under the same roof with this man, yet knows nothing. "I didn't know… he was getting married."

Now it seems the information he holds is worse. Levi was cheating; no wonder he threatened him.

"Mhm, oddly enough, to a king—oh, but they plan to announce that tomorrow, at the big event. They asked if I'd help them with entertainment. I thought everyone knew though…," his brows furrow. "So don't tell anyone I told you."

"Who's… the king he's marrying?" His heart thumps in his chest. The prince he'd been loyal to all of these years… marrying a king, and he's not even faithful himself.

"Erwin is his name, of the Smith household."

He silently ponders the name; he knows he's heard it twice today. Once… from Hanji, the second from Levi.

When it all seems to piece together, he gasps audibly and pushes his chair back. He stands with his hands on the table, eyes flickering in a left to right pace as his thoughts oil the cogs in his head.

"Eren, what is it?" His father stands with him.

"He's a cheater!" He admits in a shout. "That bastard Erwin! I saw him with Hanji—"

"Eren!" His father looks as if he could slap the brunet. "Don't say such things, do you want to be killed?"

"But I saw him—"

"We've all seen him, Eren," his voice is now a whisper. "I know, too, okay? We've got no proof, so leave it be unless you want to be sent to the gallows."

"That's… not right." He whispers. He realizes his voice had been too loud, anyone could have heard. "Someone should tell Prince Levi."

"Well it'd better be someone with a death wish," he grumbles. "Now get back to the keep before they notice you're missing."

"…yes, sir."


End file.
